Boks focus on Argentina amid Jantjies scandal

Despite the distractions in their camp, the Springboks are focused on Saturday’s Rugby Championship match with Argentina in Buenos Aires and are treating it like a final.

The Boks were rocked by reports regarding an alleged affair between flyhalf Elton Jantjies and team dietician Zeenat Simjee. The two were sent back to SA to attend to the personal reports. In doing so, the management tried to eliminate any distractions to the team’s preparations.

The absence of Jantjies and Simijee, and reports around the team, have not deterred the Boks from their preparations for the Test that will be played at the José Amalfitani Stadium (9.10pm).  

“We’ve dealt with the situation in a professional manner, as a team we understand where our focus needs to be and I can assure you it’s on the big challenge that awaits us against Argentina,” said Bok assistant coach Deon Davids.

“In the past we have had mixed results against them here, they are a tough team to play here. We need all of our focus on the preparation this week in order to get a good reward.

“We know that the competition among the teams is close. So the next two games are going to be finals, that’s how we are going to approach it. In order to do that, we need to be clear-cut in our prep and that’s going to be important for us,” he said. 

With two rounds remaining in the Rugby Championship, all four teams have a chance of winning the title. The Boks have nine points in second place on the table, one point behind New Zealand. 

This weekend's game against Los Pumas will be key in the Boks' attempt to wrestle the Rugby Championship title away from the All Blacks. “Our aim is to win the Championship,” said Davids. 

“We know we have to strive to get maximum points in this game. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, we need to focus on the small steps and the process to get there. That’s why it’s important for us to align and be focused,” he said.